Portable devices such as cameras, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) can be operated in a variety of light environments (e.g., in sunlight, incandescent light, fluorescent light, or halogen light). Typically, a device is optimized for one particular light environment, and in other environments, the device may not operate optimally. For example, in some light environments, a device's display may be difficult to read, or the color of images acquired by the device's image sensor (e.g., in the case of a camera) may be off-color.
Some devices are provided with an ambient light sensor to sense the intensity of light in a device's environment. These devices may then increase or decrease the brightness of the device's display, or the gain of the device's image sensor. However, two light environments may have the same intensity, but have very different effects on the device's operation. For example, one light environment may tend to wash-out a display's colors, whereas another light environment may accentuate a display's (or acquired image's) blue hues.